8.  Between 1982 and 1989 the applicant used to live in a rented apartment located in the area of Terontola, in the province of Perugia. He was housing a Nigerian national whom the authorities maintain is the applicant's cousin, whereas the applicant alleges he is only a friend.
9.  On 23 February 1988 a criminal complaint was filed against the applicant and against the person who was sharing the apartment with him for membership of a drug-trafficking ring.
10.  On an unspecified date a search warrant was issued against the applicant's friend/cousin. On 13 November 1988 the applicant's apartment was searched. The police found a certain amount of drugs, partly in the house and partly in a nearby barn. On the same date the applicant was arrested and charged with illegal possession of drugs.
11.  During his police interrogation the applicant chose the family home of a couple of close friends, Mr and Mrs C., as the address for service of communications relating to the case, as provided for by Section 171 of the former Italian Code of Criminal Procedure. The applicant was subsequently committed for trial before the Arezzo District Court on the charge of illegal possession of drugs.
12.  On 7 December 1988 the Arezzo District Court acquitted the applicant on the ground of lack of evidence (insufficienza di prove). The court however found the applicant's friend/cousin guilty of possessing drugs and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment.
13.  Following his acquittal the applicant again elected Mr and Mrs C.'s family home as his address for service. However, shortly after his acquittal the applicant moved to Germany where he obtained employment. The applicant did not inform the Italian authorities of this change of address as required by Italian law.
14.  On an unspecified date the Public Prosecutor attached to the Arezzo District Court appealed against the judgment acquitting the applicant. On 10 July 1989 the President of the Florence Court of Appeal issued a summons for the applicant to attend the appeal hearing set for 6 October 1989. On 2 August 1989 the bailiff (ufficiale giudiziario) completed a form stating that he could not serve the summons on account of the fact that the applicant was no longer living there and that it appeared that he had left the country (“non potuto notificare perchè il notificando non è piu' domiciliato presso la famiglia in questione ma pare sia ritornato all'estero”). On 16 August 1989 the bailiff completed a report stating that he had served the summons on the applicant by depositing it at the registry of the Florence Court of Appeal.
15.  On 6 September 1989 the registry of the Florence Court of Appeal issued a notice to Mr D., the applicant's officially-appointed lawyer (avvocato d'ufficio), which stated that, as it had not been possible to serve the summons on the applicant, it had been filed with the court registry. On 25 September 1989 the bailiff served this notice on Mr D.
16.  On 6 October 1989 the Florence Court of Appeal reversed the first-instance judgment concerning the applicant and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment for illegal possession of drugs. The applicant, who had had no notice of the appeal proceedings, was not present at the hearing.
17.  On 3 January 1990 the bailiff wrote a report stating that the attempt to serve notice of the judgment on the applicant at the old address had failed, the applicant no longer being domiciled there, as declared by Mr C. On 29 January 1990 the bailiff completed a report (relata di notifica) stating that he had served notice of the judgment on the applicant by filing it with the registry of the Florence Court of Appeal. The applicant did not receive any notice of the appeal judgment or of the prison sentence passed on him.
18.  On 19 August 1995 the applicant was arrested when entering Italy on his return from a holiday. He was immediately imprisoned in compliance with the Florence Court of Appeal judgment of 6 October 1989.
19.  On 22 September 1995 the applicant made an application to the Court of Cassation seeking leave to make a “late appeal” (restituzione nel termine).
20.  By a decision (ordinanza) of 30 January 1996, which was deposited in the court's registry on 13 March 1996, the Court of Cassation rejected the applicant's request. It noted that the applicant had had knowledge of his conviction in absentia upon his arrest on 19 August 1995, whereas he had lodged the request for the late appeal on 22 September 1995, thus failing to comply with the ten-day time-limit set out in Article 175 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
21.  In a letter dated 20 July 1996 Mr and Mrs C. stated that they had never been served with notification that an appeal had been lodged in respect of the applicant. On or about 31 May 1997 the applicant was released from prison and was expelled to the United Kingdom.